


Far From Home

by JEAikman



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Durin Family, Durin Feels, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Parental Thorin, Young Bilbo Baggins, Young Fíli, Young Kíli, Young(er) Thorin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-07
Updated: 2014-01-06
Packaged: 2018-01-07 19:26:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1123497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JEAikman/pseuds/JEAikman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thorin was hunting orcs when he found him. Such a small, pathetic creature, so helpless and injured. He cannot help but take it home to the Blue Mountains and ask his sister to help bring the halfling child back to health so that they might return him home.</p>
<p>Inspired by this picture by papermachette on tumblr: http://papermachette.tumblr.com/tagged/baby%20bilbo<br/>It just gave me so many feels that I had to write for it.<br/>And I am working on my other Hobbit fic. It's just the bloody Bag End Scene giving me a headache. Too many dwarves. and the fact I can't write for Fili and Kili without my heart breaking.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Far From Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [papermachette](https://archiveofourown.org/users/papermachette/gifts).



The orcs were easily enough dealt with, and if he was being honest, it helped Thorin to take his mind off of more pressing matters - like making sure his family was fed, and how utterly cruel the men in whose towns they forged could be. They were only barely scraping by. A fight or two was just what he needed to take the edge off his worries. He'd just finished sticking Deathless through the last of them, and cleaned his sword in the grass, before sliding it back into its sheath, when he heard something behind him in the bushes. He frowned and went to investigate.

 

What he saw made his blood turn to ice. There was a child huddled behind the bushes, clothes ripped and bloody. Its ears were almost like an elf's - but it was so small, and its feet were hairy. It looked up at him with terrified blue eyes, and Thorin felt his heart leap into his throat. There was only one thing the orcs could have been thinking in keeping the young creature alive, and that was to... to keep the meat fresh. He swallowed back bile at the thought and slowly, deliberately knelt down.

 

"Little one, I will not hurt you. They are _gone_. They cannot do anything to you now." He whispered, gently reaching out an arm. The little creature did not flinch, but watched the arm warily, and then looked between it and the dwarf, narrowing his eyes a little.

"P...promise?" Thorin winced internally at the weak and scratchy voice, as if he hadn't spoken in days, perhaps a week. The little thing looked so pitiful that he wanted to take it up into his arms like his nephews and hold him tight to protect him from all the world.

"I promise, little one. My name is Thorin, and I live in Ered Luin with my family. I will keep you safe." The little thing seemed to trust him, and let the dwarf lift him up into his arms. He felt sick when he felt how light he was. That could not be right. "We'll get you some food and water, little one, and I'll see if my nephews have some old clothes that might fit you." He whispered, and the child just snuggled into his shoulder. He hummed old songs until the child relaxed and fell asleep in his arms as he made his way home.

 

Dwalin was on watch that night, and he grinned when he saw Thorin, but frowned at the creature in his arms.

"Thorin, what-?" His friend just shook his head and motioned for Dwalin to lower his voice.

"He only just fell asleep. After what the little one has been through, I don't have the heart to wake him." At Dwalin's questioning look, Thorin sighed and ran his free hand over his face. "I found him after I killed a couple of orcs that I found. They were going to eat him. He was alone and terrified, Dwalin, I could not leave him." At that, the warrior's face softened and he nodded.

"Dis had just finished fixing some dinner. She thought you might be back soon." Thorin gave his thanks and hurried to his sister's home.

"Uncle Thorin!" Kili all but jumped on him, before looking up in confusion at the small creature in his uncle's arms. "wassat?" Thorin chuckled before ruffling his youngest nephew's hair. He looked up to see Fili with his arms folded and watching them curiously with his head tilted to one side.

"This is... well, I didn't quite get around to asking his name, but the poor little fellow needs a place to sleep and maybe a plate of your Amad's soup, hmm?"

 

"What happened, Uncle?" Fili asked, frowning now. Oh, but how his heir seemed to copy his every move. It almost made Thorin smile.

"I found him. Orcs were going to... well. They were just about to eat him, I think." The blond dwarfling paled visibly before calling for his mother. He heard Fili talking to her in hushed tones, and Dis hurried through to see what all the fuss was about.

"Brother? May I see the child?" She asked. Thorin debated for a moment, before nodding.

"Alright, but let me wake him first." He told her, and he gently placed the creature down on the spare cot they had set up for Thorin. He had a house of his own, but he spent more time with his sister and her children, so it had made sense for him to have a bed there. He gently nudged the child awake.

 

Bilbo groaned pathetically as he blearily opened his eyes. Where was he? It was too dark to be his hobbit hole, with Ma and Da and-

Then he remembered the orcs, their voices harsh laughter and the pain and... _ohyavannapleaseletmegomamaiwantmama. I want to go home.Please don'teatme_

"Little one, hush now. You're safe. I told you - remember?" He remembered that voice, at any rate. But where from? He tried to recall.

"M...mister Thorin? They're all gone?"

"I promise you, they can't hurt you, not anymore." Bilbo's eyes opened properly and he could see the dwarf crouching over him, along with a dwarf lady behind him, who seemed to be blocking the doorway.

"Are you hurt anywhere, little one?" Bilbo thought for a moment, and with the return of consciousness came the return of pain. He nodded, and tears filled his eyes, but he didn't make one sound. Thorin's lips pursed in a white line, but the reaction was momentary, before he returned to what he hoped was a reassuring smile to the creature.

 

"Can you tell me where?" Rather than saying, Bilbo pointed to his right elbow and shoulder. Thorin carefully removed the clothing, and he bit back a hiss at what he saw. The child's shoulder was almost black from bruising, and the arm was clearly broken. Dis had a similar reaction to it, but her eyes were filled with fury. Bilbo looked up at her, clearly frightened, but Thorin soothed him gently.

"It's alright. This is my sister, Dis. She's going to take good care of you. And after all this, we'll get you a nice warm bowl of soup. How does that sound?" He gently wiped The tears from his little foundling's eyes.

"Thorin, you might need to go and fetch Oin. This looks pretty serious. And I think... I think this little one is a halfling. I'm pretty sure they're the only people of Arda with such hairy feet." She turned when Bilbo made a noise of disapproval.

 

"I'm a Hobbit. We're not half of anything" He told them, sitting up straight and lifting his chin defiantly. "That's what Ma says. She says the Big Folk just call us that 'cause they's jealous and mean an-" He was cut off by an involuntary whimper as Dis used the distraction to set his dislocated shoulder. She looked suitably impressed.

"And what a brave little warrior you are. Why, when my brother popped out his shoulder in a training accident, he just about screamed." The little hobbit looked from Dis to Thorin, who just nodded. "I'm sure your Ma would be very proud of you, little one."

"Is the furry feet thing okay?" Kili asked before his brother could stop him. Bilbo just puffed up indignantly, an angry frown on his face

"Excuse me. Furry feet thing- honestly. I am Bilbo Baggins of the Shire and, and-" He promptly fainted.

 

The little princelings cried out in alarm before their mother shushed them and continued tending to the little hobbit, whilst ordering Thorin to go along to Oin to see if he had any pain tonics. The princess fussed over Bilbo as much as she dared, before gently tucking him to sleep with a lullaby and a kiss on the forehead. Already her heart was going out to the poor little thing, and if the look on her oldest son's face was anything to go by, the same was true of Fili as well.


End file.
